Arsenal couldn’t break the deadlock and drew 0-0 against Nottingham Forest, failing to capitalize on Manchester City’s derby defeat.
The Gunners had the chance to momentarily go 10 points clear at the top of the Premier League table. Man City lost to Man United earlier today and stayed put with 43 points – the same as Aston Villa, who play Everton this Sunday.
But a disappointing showing at The City Ground leaves Mikel Arteta’s side with 50 points in first place. They had previously drawn 0-0 vs Liverpool in their last league outing and now repeat the result against Nottingham Forest.
Why couldn’t Arsenal beat Nottingham Forest?
Arteta’s squad rotation
After a Carabao Cup semi final first leg win over Chelsea midweek, Mikel Arteta rested his starting wingers against Forest.
This meant that Gabriel Martinelli and Noni Madueke both featured as starters. In the first half, Arsenal did manage to impose themselves in the usual structure and dictate the terms of the game, as per usual.
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But they bumped into a few limitations based on player quality. The Gunners had heavy focus in playing down the right side of the pitch. But a pairing of Ben White and Madueke in that flank left a lot to be desired on the ball.
Martin Odegaard spent a lot of time dropping deep to initiate build-up and, going forward, was limited to occupying the right-half-space. The Norwegian finished the game with 1 chance created, zero shots and zero successful take-ons in 57 minutes.
On the opposite wing, Martinelli couldn’t take advantage of the few one-on-one situations he had against Ola Aina.
The Brazilian benefitted from a clear emphasis on switching the play – far more often than we’re used to seeing from Arsenal (season-high 7 such attempts across all competitions).
He was active and led all players on the pitch in shots (4). However, one of them was a missed sitter at the back post.
Second half improvements
So with a game plan reliant on players who had poor individual performances, Arteta had seen enough. By the 55th minute, he had made four substitutions – tied most by a team at this stage in a Premier League game this season.
He brought in the ‘big guns’, starting with Leandro Trossard coming on for Martinelli at half time. 10 minutes later, the Spaniard introduced Bukayo Saka, Mikel Merino and Gabriel Jesus into the fray.
Arsenal were slow and sluggish after the break, which adds further explanation to the amount of changes in such short time. But with most of the available starters on the pitch and a more aggressive approach, things got better.
As expected, Saka made more things happen than Madueke. Merino and Jesus gave a lot of energy and movement to their attack. Trossard and Eberechi Eze, however, brought little to no impact on the game.
| Arsenal stats | 1st half | 2nd half |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 60% | 61% |
| Shots (on target) | 8 (0) | 7 (3) |
| Big chances | 1 | 3 |
Statistically speaking, Opta gave the Gunners four big chances throughout the whole 90 minutes. But three of them were either unintentional ball touches, such as Gabriel Jesus in the six-yard box, or awkward finishes from promising positions, like Merino barely grazing the ball with his head.
Nottingham Forest also deserve a lot of credit, especially their midfielders. Elliot Anderson in particular was the main stand-out.
But Ibrahim Sangare and Nicolas Dominguez also put in great effort in different ways trying to prevent Arsenal from creating dangerous chances. For the most part, it worked.
Callum Hudson-Odoi was their brightest attacking spark, while Igor Jesus had a thankless job of fighting Arsenal’s centre-backs. Morgan Gibbs-White left a lot to be desired.
Ultimately, Arsenal had mainly half-chances and one truly great opportunity to leave fans wondering how they didn’t score. By the end of the second half, they were rushed and making bad decisions, forcing progressive actions and losing control of the game.
Considering what both teams showed at The City Ground, a goalless draw was a perfectly fair result.